


Where The Heart Is

by Anonymous_Ostrich



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, M/M, mook, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 03:45:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4591755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Ostrich/pseuds/Anonymous_Ostrich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After over a year lost in space, the Spaceship Iwatobi finally makes contact with Earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where The Heart Is

The call had come in the middle of the night. Normally Nagisa would have silenced his phone and gone back to sleep, but something eerily urgent compelled him to pull himself out of bed and grab his phone from his bedside.

Ruffling a hand through his messy hair, Nagisa yawned hugely. "...'lo?"

"Hazuki-san!" The voice wasn't familiar, even less so while Nagisa was still stuck in a half-asleep stupor.

"Mhmm? Who is this?"

"We've only met a handful of times, I work at the communications tower. Sorry for waking you, but I was told to contact you immediately if there was any news!"

Nagisa stopped rubbing his eyes, his blood becoming icy in his veins. "What's this about?"

"The Spaceship Iwatobi has made contact with the com tower! There's been a request to land! The admiral wanted you here to oversee-"

Nagisa couldn't hear anything else. His heart in his throat, he flung himself out of bed and began dressing himself at lightening speed.

.

.

.

The com tower was usually a quiet place at 3:30am, but tonight it was in utter chaos. The Spaceship Iwatobi had completely disappeared over a year ago. Space disasters weren't rare by any means, but no one had ever known a spacecraft to return after being lost for so long. For months and months it had been drilled into Nagisa's head by his friends and peers that there couldn't possibly be survivors - that even if the ship did survive the accident, the likeliness of it returning was astronomically impossible - but Nagisa hadn't lost hope. Rei-chan was on that ship. Rei-chan was the smartest person he'd ever met. He would do anything to return to Earth.

His heartbeat pounding in his ears, Nagisa weaved his way through the hectic crowds of engineers, secretaries and officers to reach the front desk.

.

.

.

The impromptu landing had knocked him unconscious. This wasn't a surprise, really, as there had been nothing he could do to repair the landing gear of the ship before leaving for Earth; Rei was just glad he hadn't been killed.

After his health had been deemed stable and the medical team had gone, Rei was left in a comfortable albeit off-putting decontamination room with juice and a protein bar - recommended by the medical team - to wind down and await a psyche eval.

Rei drummed his fingers against the table nervously. It was almost surreal being back on Earth after all this time. He wanted to see Nagisa badly, but at the same time he was afraid to face him. He knew that there were engineers currently scouring the Spaceship Iwatobi, and he also knew it was a matter of time before someone found the remains of his Nagisa android. He shuddered to think about the conversation he was likely going to have with his job-appointed therapist about  _that_ one.

A sudden and persistent knocking sounded from the other side of the room, against the glass. Rei looked up and nearly spat out his juice. Nagisa. Pale-faced and looking vaguely tearful, Nagisa stopped knocking once Rei locked eyes with him, and left the window to rush to the door. From the other side, Rei could hear a concerned female voice calling out.

"Ah, Hazuki-san, you can't go in there yet…!"

The door flew open and Nagisa stepped inside, closing it to block out the voices behind him. Rei stood up, his chest constricting into something rather painful. "N-Nagisa-kun…"

" _Rei-chan_ …!" Nagisa's voice came out as a sob, and in a flash he was rushing forward, throwing his arms around Rei's neck and crying into his shoulder. Rei's mind spun. He almost couldn't believe that he was so near Nagisa,  _his_ Nagisa, the real, human Nagisa; slowly and carefully, Rei circled his arms around him and held him tightly, burying his face in his hair. He could smell a hint of strawberry. A grateful laugh caught in his throat, and he squeezed Nagisa more tightly. He hadn't changed his shampoo in all this time.

"Nagisa-kun… I'm sorry I was gone for so long..."

Nagisa shook his head, still sobbing. Amidst the wailing, Rei could hear his own name occasionally, each tearful syllable tugging painfully at his heart.

"I… knew- *hic*  _knew_ you were… alive…" Nagisa cried. "I k-knew… Rei-ch _aaa_ n..."

Rei shut his eyes, unsuccessfully fighting off tears. He tried to concentrate on the feeling of Nagisa's warmth, the sound of his voice, the smell of his hair; anything to remind him that Nagisa was  _here_ and  _alive_. The image of Nagisa lying on the floor of the ship, lifeless and in pieces was still burned into his memories, vivid and painful. He knew that the android Nagisa was not the original - he hadn't completely lost his senses - but it was difficult to stomach how completely identical the two Nagisas were. Regardless of whom came first, Rei had seen Nagisa die. It was a fact that haunted him.

"You… really didn't forget about me?" Rei asked quietly, his voice trembling. Nagisa pulled away only enough to stare up at Rei, his face rosy and his cheeks absolutely tear-streaked.

"There's no way I could ever forget about you, Rei-chan!" he sounded very nearly angry, and it may have been more convincing if his eyes weren't still so teary and yearning. "Would you have forgotten about  _me_ if I had gone on that mission instead?"

"Of  _course_ not!" Rei said adamantly, holding Nagisa's face in his hands. "I could never…!"

Nagisa's tears reemerged. "It should have been me on that mission…" he cried, gripping Rei's hands tightly. "Every day that went by, I couldn't help but think about it… If something happened to you, I never would have forgiven myself…!"

"I'm here, and I'm fine," Rei assured, gently leaning forward and pressing his forehead against Nagisa's. "Nothing that happened is your fault. Not a single bit of it."

Nagisa nodded, inhaling a long, calming breath and letting it out slow. He looked back up at Rei with a slightly more subdued expression. "Rei-chan… They told me you were the only survivor. Is that true? Were you  _really_ the only one who survived the crash?"

Guilt crawling up into his neck and jaw, Rei nodded. "Yes."

Nagisa placed his hands on Rei's chest. "That's so horrible… Rei-chan, I'm so sorry…" He bit his lower lip. "How did you even cope with the loneliness for so long? I don't think I could have survived all by myself…"

"Err, well, about that…"

.

.

.

"Wow, Rei-chan, he looks  _just like_  me!" Nagisa exclaimed, his hands clutched at his chest as he leaned forward, getting a closer look at the android. The android was sitting on an examination table, his chest panel open, an angelic, sleeping expression on his face. "It's uncanny!"

Rei chuckled uneasily. "Well, that  _was_ the point, I suppose…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "You're not, uhh…  _Freaked out_  about this, Nagisa-kun?"

"Huh?" Nagisa was gently touching the android's hair when he turned around, viewing Rei with large, inquisitive eyes. "Why  _would_ I be?"

"Well…" Rei wasn't quite sure how to summarize it. "I can't help but feel guilty about building it. I…  _replaced_ you. In my hopelessness and desperation, I created another Nagisa just to keep myself from losing my mind…"

Nagisa smiled and stepped away from the android, nearing Rei with his hands swinging behind his back. "I'm glad you did. I can't even imagine how horrible it must have been for you, Rei-chan. You were the sole survivor of an accident that  _shouldn't_ have had any survivors. You were all alone out there, and you thought you could never come home. I would have done the same thing, if I was as brilliant as you!" He ran his pointer finger over his bottom lip with a quirky smile. "Also, it's flattering."

"I-is it?" Rei asked, feeling relieved beyond belief.

"Of course!" Nagisa said. "You could have made anyone or anything to keep you company, but you chose me!"

Rei chuckled. "There isn't anyone else I couldn't live without," he admitted.

Nagisa giggled and stood on his tiptoes to peck Rei affectionately on the mouth. "If he had all of my memories, then does that mean that you two…?" Nagisa winked and used his hands to simulate naughty activities that made Rei's face blossom with warmth.

"N-no…!" Rei exclaimed, grabbing Nagisa's hands to stop the vulgar actions. "I… I didn't input into his memory that we were in a relationship. At the time, even though I had given up all hope, it still didn't feel… right. I felt like it would have been unfaithful."

His mouth forming a surprised 'o', Nagisa grabbed Rei's hands adamantly. "You went without for a whole _year_ , Rei-chan?"

"Of course!" Rei replied, flustered. "Didn't you?"

Nagisa laughed. "Well,  _I_  couldn't make a perfect replica of Rei-chan, so I had no choice! But you had this super adorable android me! It's kinda surprising, is all."

Rei held his face in his hands. "I can't  _believe_ you're not more disturbed by all of this… You're taking this way too well..."

"Rei-chan." Nagisa pulled Rei's hands away from his face, pulling him in for a kiss. Rei's eyes fell closed, his mind becoming blessedly hazy as Nagisa's soft lips prompted his own to open and allow Nagisa's tongue to slip in. Nagisa slid his arms around Rei's neck and eagerly pressed their chests together, whimpering needily into Rei's mouth. Rei's hand tangled in Nagisa's hair, kissing him back with a years worth of repressed affection.

Nagisa pulled away from Rei's lips just enough to form words, his breath ghosting over Rei's mouth teasingly. "Rei-chan… I missed you so much, I almost couldn't stand it…"

"N-Nagisa-kun…"

The two men kissed each other repeatedly, each peck gaining passion, breathing hard through their noses as they pulled each other in and worked to draw each others heat through their lips.

"Having… you here… is like… a dream…" Nagisa panted between kisses, fingers curled in Rei's hair to keep him close. Rei's vision was blurry with Nagisa so near, but he could just barely observe tears were once again shining on Nagisa's cheeks. Rei gently tilted Nagisa's head to the side to kiss the tears away, drawing a tight sob from Nagisa's throat.

"It took me a while to come back, but everything is going to be okay now. I won't leave you ever again, I promise."

Nagisa smiled, laughing through his tears. "Yeah. You're  _really_ back. Welcome home, Rei-chan."

Rei smiled, happiness filling him up like liquid warmth. "I'm home, Nagisa-kun."

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from tumbler user odetochipotle :'D
> 
> After reading the mook 120000 years ago I had planned to write SO MANY FICS from all the tears I cried and I don't know what happened but I just never wrote any of them, so thank you kindly for this lovely prompt kind user


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